How do you make a fuel cell? Print it

Calififornia-based EoPlex Technologies builds components by piling thin, patterned layers of ceramics, metals and other materials on top of each other and curing the individual layers as the structure takes shape. Although EoPlex will likely one day incorporate inkjet technology into its offerings, for now it concentrates on techniques like screen printing where fluid is pressed directly onto a surface by a drum or a plate. Conventional printing may not draw as fine lines as inkjet printing, but it costs less. Right now, the company's processes can produce features measuring less than 50 microns. In the future, EoPlex will be able to print features under 10 microns. (A micron is a millionth of meter.)

A complete set of printers for producing products with the company's technology costs about $1 million, Chait said, and can be squeezed into a space about the same size as a large conference room. The start-up right now has the ability to make about 1,000 components a year, but it hopes to be capable of building 30 million units a year by 2011. Arthur Chait, CEO of EoPlex

Source: c/net News.com

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